DeMartin Stadium

It’s wierd. I’ve been to DeMartin Stadium, but I’ve never blogged about it. I was thinking that Sunday as I was standing there watching the MSU women take on the Minnesota Golden Golphers. I don’t have a lot of experience with college soccer stadiums or soccer in general, but DeMartin seems like a nice place to play.

DeMartin Stadium sits behind Jenison Field on Michigan State University. It’s part of the athletic complex that makes up Old College Field along with the softball and baseball diamonds. DeMartin Stadium is barely a year old. Before the 2008 season, a number of changes took place to the soccer field including the orientation and the addition of seating bringing the capacity to 2500.

The closest parking lot to the field is at Jenison and on game days, parking can be at a premium. People were parking everywhere. In spaces, on the grass, wherever they could find a spot to put their cars. The only bad thing about Old College Field is the parking, but that seems to be the trend at all of MSU’s athletic facilities.

You enter Old College Field between the baseball and softball diamonds…that is, if you’re paying. You wouldn’t believe how many kids…and adults were sucking in their guts and squeezing through the fence that is meant to keep people out. I don’t know how much a soccer game costs, but it can’t be that much.

If you did pay, you have a little bit of a walk to the grandstands. They are on the other side of the field. There’s a huge section of bleachers if you’re in the sitting mood or you can stand along the sidelines at the fence. The fence is only a few feet from the playing surface, so if that’s you’re thing, you could have a really good spot.

Concessions are all portable stands. There were actually four or five trailers selling different things including a honey roasted almond truck and a Mr. Pita truck. I was tempted to buy a bottle of pop from the Pita guy..until I saw the price was $3.50/bottle. I could wait until I could get to a gas station. I need less pop anyway.

The facility is said to be one of the premier soccer stadiums in the country. I have no idea because I only have one other comparison. Soccer is not really my thing, but people do come to games and it’s nice to have so much seating if you’re going to sit in the rain and watch the Spartans.